Ex-Phoebus star Shawne Alston ready to step in at tailback at West Virginia

Van Slider, Daily Press

Van Slider, Daily Press

Dave Johnson, djohnson@dailypress.com | 247-4649

You check the roster and ask yourself: Can it be? Has Shawne Alston really been out of Phoebus two years now? Is his college football career really half over?

But there it is … the class "junior" by his name at West Virginia. Which even Alston can't believe.

"Time flies," he said. "I was talking to one of our receivers the other day, and we were saying, 'Man, it seems like yesterday we were just moving into the dorms.' It's gone by real fast."

Life is moving even quicker for Alston now. Along with three or four others, he's in the mix to be the Mountaineers' starting tailback when the season opens Sept. 4 against Marshall. The next three weeks will be crucial.

Alston was the Mountaineers' third-leading rusher last year with 248 yards on 56 carries. He saw most of his time after starter Noel Devine was injured and had his best games against Cincinnati (75 yards) and Pittsburgh (71).

But through no fault of his own, Alston began fall practice behind. In January, while home on Christmas break, he was at a stop light when a drunk driver rear-ended him. Alston injured his neck but was determined to return for spring practice. He made it through four workouts.

"I'm just now getting back," he said. "I know the offense already, but I'm just trying to get back on the field, run the ball, and show the coaches what I can do.

"I'm still a power back. I think in this offseason I got a little faster. I was hoping I'd come in having lost some weight and get under 220, but that didn't work out."

Alston is now wearing one of those old-fashioned neck rolls. WVU coach Dana Holgorsen calls him "Alstott," as in former Tampa Bay Buccaneers fullback Mike Alstott.

At 6-foot and 228 pounds, Alston is bigger and stronger than the other candidates at running back. He's also not as fast, which could limit his situations in a spread offense.

"He's a good football player," Holgorsen told reporters after practice last week. "We'll find something for him to do. He's carrying the ball and doing a good job. He doesn't have the burst that the other guys do, but that doesn't mean he won't play."

Alston has plenty of competition. Touted freshmen Dustin Garrison, Andrew Buie and Vernard Roberts are speedsters. So is sophomore Trey Johnson. They and Alston are listed as "A" backs, which in WVU's vernacular translates to tailback. Ryan Clarke (6-0, 247) is No. 1 at "B," or fullback.

"Coach says he could have five or six backs ready to play in any given game," Alston said. "It's just a matter of taking advantage of what everybody's good at. Pass blocking, running inside, running outside, it's just a lot of different elements you can take advantage of."

It's been a rocky off-season in Morgantown. Nine days before Christmas, and 12 days before their bowl game against North Carolina State, the Mountaineers introduced Holgorsen as offensive coordinator. But that wasn't the big news of the press conference.

Saying he didn't believe current coach Bill Stewart could lead the program to a national title, WVU athletic director Oliver Luck declared Holgorsen the "coach in waiting." Stewart would coach the 2011 season, and Holgorsen would take over in '12. What could possibly go wrong?

On June 10, less than two months before preseason practice was to begin, Stewart was forced out. This followed a reporter's claim that Stewart had asked him to "dig up dirt" on Holgorsen. WVU also investigated whether Stewart was behind a newspaper story that quoted anonymous sources as saying Holgorsen had several drinking-related incidents.

The players watched it all unfold as if it were reality TV.

"It was a little bit weird," Alston said. "We were all wondering who was going to be our coach. But at the same time, we had to keep busy in the weight room. And the way it was, Dana Holgorsen was either going to be the head coach or the offensive coordinator, so it wouldn't be too much of a change.

"We'd still be running the same offense, and the defensive coordinator (Jeff Casteel) was still the same. For the most part, we were just waiting to see what happened."

It was three years ago when Alston and Phoebus teammates Dominik "Baby D" Davenport and Tajh Boyd committed to West Virginia. Boyd was the first to commit, but he never made it to Morgantown, instead signing with Clemson. Davenport played one season at WVU and transferred.

"It would have been good if they had stayed here," Alston said. "Me and Baby D had played on the same team since we were 8 years old, and Tajh was my quarterback. They had to do what they had to do to better themselves, I understand that."

So now, his college career half over, Alston looks forward to the next chapter.